Network‑Based Attacks
Network‑based attacks target communication channels, protocols, and networked systems, aiming to intercept, alter, disrupt, or gain unauthorized access to data flowing over a network.
Network-Based Attack Types
• Man‑in‑the‑Middle (MitM)
Interception of communications between two parties to spy, modify, or inject data.
• Denial of Service (DoS)
Overwhelming a system with traffic to make it unavailable.
• Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)
DoS at massive scale using many sources (botnets).
• DNS Spoofing / Cache Poisoning
Forging or manipulating DNS records to redirect users to malicious destinations.
• ARP Spoofing / ARP Poisoning
Sending fake ARP messages to associate the attacker’s MAC with a victim’s IP.
• Traffic Sniffing / Packet Capture
Capturing network packets to read passwords, tokens, or unencrypted data.
• IP Spoofing
Forging source IP addresses to impersonate another device or hide identity.
• Port Scanning & Network Enumeration
Reconnaissance to identify open ports, services, and vulnerabilities.
• Routing Attacks (BGP Hijacking)
Manipulating internet routing to reroute or intercept large swaths of traffic.
• Session Hijacking
Stealing session cookies or tokens to take over active sessions.
🏆 Top 10 Biggest / Most Significant Network‑Based Attacks
1. Mirai Botnet (2016)
A massive IoT botnet launched one of the largest DDoS attacks ever, taking down major services like Dyn, causing outages for Twitter, Netflix, Reddit, and more.
2. GitHub DDoS Attack (2018)
GitHub faced a record‑breaking 1.35 Tbps DDoS attack using memcached reflection.
3. Estonia Nation‑State DDoS Attacks (2007)
A wave of political DDoS attacks shut down government websites, banks, and news agencies.
4. BGP Hijack of YouTube (2008)
Pakistan Telecom accidentally hijacked YouTube’s BGP route, taking YouTube offline globally.
5. Google China (2009 – Operation Aurora)
Attackers used network intrusion + zero‑days to penetrate Google and other major companies.
6. Target Data Breach – Network Lateral Movement (2013)
After phishing a vendor, attackers pivoted across the internal network to POS systems.
7. SolarWinds Supply‑Chain Breach (2020)
Attackers infiltrated SolarWinds’ network, compromising downstream networks worldwide.
8. Cloudflare BGP Routing Incident (2019)
Misconfigured BGP routes sent global Cloudflare traffic through a small ISP, causing massive outages.
9. Marriott / Starwood Breach (2018)
Attackers leveraged long‑term network access to steal data of 500 million guests.
10. Colonial Pipeline (2021)
Though initiated by credential misuse, the impact was due to network segmentation failures and lateral movement risks.
⭐ Network Attack “Must-Know” Techniques for Cybersecurity
Core Network Threat Models
- Spoofing (IP, DNS, ARP)
- Sniffing (packet capture, passive recon)
- Injection & Manipulation (MitM, rogue AP)
- Reflection & Amplification (memcached, NTP, DNS amplifiers)
- Lateral Movement across subnets
- Reconnaissance (Nmap scans, service fingerprinting)
Key Attack Surfaces
- Corporate networks
- Public Wi‑Fi
- IoT devices
- VPN concentrators
- Firewalls & routers
- DNS resolvers
- Cloud environments
Essential Tools Commonly Used (Defensive Awareness)
Listed for professional education and defensive understanding only.
Network Recon & Scanning
- Nmap / Zenmap – Port scanning and service detection
- Masscan – Internet‑scale scanning
- Shodan – Internet-exposed devices search engine
Packet Capture & Analysis
- Wireshark – Packet analysis
- tcpdump – CLI network capture
MitM & Spoofing (Defensive Study)
- Ettercap – ARP poisoning & sniffing
- Bettercap – Advanced network interception tool
DDoS / Traffic Simulation (Legitimate Testing Only)
- LOIC / HOIC – Historical tools used for stress testing
- Hping3 – Packet crafting and testing
Network Monitoring / Detection
- Suricata – IDS/IPS
- Snort – Network intrusion detection
- Zeek (Bro) – Network visibility and behavioral analysis
🧩 Advanced Network Attack Categories
Wireless Attacks
- Evil Twin access points
- Deauthentication attacks
- WPA handshake capture
Network Access Control Evasion
- MAC spoofing
- VLAN hopping
Cloud & Hybrid Network Exploitation
- Misconfigured security groups
- Compromised API endpoints
- Role assumption / privilege escalation